REM Warfare

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.


The prompts: This story must contain the words: nightmare, window, coffee


REM Warfare

Bloodshot eyes stared unblinking at the blade as it swept back and forth across the wetted stone. The rasping sound kept cadence with the ticking clock on the wall.

Click, rasp, click, rasp…

The rhythmic dance of hand, blade and clock was abruptly interrupted by the alarm clock.

Calvin silenced it with a practiced slap. He walked into the kitchen to start another pot of coffee. While it brewed, he picked up a letter opener from the counter and quickly stuck it into his arm.

The superficial cut drew blood, but more importantly, it hurt like hell. That was good news. It meant he was still awake.

Ten minutes later, the pot was empty and Calvin was back on the couch. Around him was an arsenal of sharpened weaponry. He had hatchets, spears, swords and knives. He would need all of them if he was to survive.

It had been three weeks since they had first attacked him. They had tried to take him as he slept; sneaking in through a window that was not a window. He had fought them off that first night using only his hands. Later, they had come in bigger numbers. He thought he was prepared; armed with two pistols and an assault rifle. He quickly discovered guns wouldn’t work “over there.”

Their world, born of his mind, had its own rules. No fires and no guns. That only left blades and he had plenty of those.

The beasts of his sleep were large and powerful, but they were only animals and when they were cut, they bled.

He set his alarm for another thirty minutes and then picked up a blade.

Click, rasp, click, rasp…

The room began to soften. A window irised open on the far wall.

Let the nightmare begin, he thought.